Business leaders in Malaysia are more optimistic compared to just a year ago, according to a new finding by Grant Thornton’s quarterly business survey. The International Business Report (IBR) involved 2,500 businesses across 36 economies. Grant Thornton Malaysia Country Managing Partner, Datuk NK Jasani said the IBR revealed that the optimism level in Malaysia rose to six per cent, the highest level since 2014, a vast improvement compared to a year ago (-36 per cent). “Global business optimism is at a positive level too at 58 per cent, the highest ever, and the level of optimism in the ASEAN region is also at its best at 58 per cent, the highest since 2011,” he said.

11street aims for 50% increase in sales this Chinese New Year

11street is targeting a 50% increase in Gross Merchandising Value in Chinese New Year Business this year. 11street recently conducted a nationwide survey to better understand the psyche of online shoppers. 1,854 respondents took part in survey, in which the findings revealed that Malaysians are prone to last-minute shopping, and concurred that family and friends mattered most. On that note, 11street has launched its Chinese New Year campaign – Gong Xi Wang Wang – which aims to accommodate their shopping needs. Bruce Lim, Vice President of Merchandising at 11street said: “It is no secret that we have a large and growing pool of online shoppers in Malaysia, and typically, during festive periods such as Chinese New Year, we see a peak in online sales.” From the survey, 11street also found that at least 96% of survey participants intended to shop online for the upcoming festivity, driven by better prices, discounts and promotions. Lim added: “This is only natural as Internet-savvy consumers will head online to search for deals and promotions, so to evolve our offering in tandem with consumer demands, 11street has tailored more bespoke offering for the upcoming Chinese New Year celebration.”

Lelong.my acquires a full-fledge digital marketing agency

Lelong.my, a Malaysian e-commerce player recently acquired Mataris Agency, a digital marketing agency based in Malaysia. The move paves the way for the online marketplace with over 1.3 million products spanning personal and business needs to put its best foot forward in the area of digital marketing. Lelong.my, under Interbase Resources Sdn Bhd’s group umbrella, is home to more than 10,000 homegrown merchants with products varying from computers, mobile phones, gadgets, home appliances and fashion and accessories – creating a great opportunity for local merchants to access a wider market within the country. The 19-year-old parent company is an integrated e-commerce ecosystem, the first of its kind in Malaysia. “The acquisition of Mataris Agency, and appointment of its founder Cyril Dhenaut as our Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) is a strategic approach to our business direction, which will strengthen our group company’s pioneer position and raise Lelong.my’s brand presence and awareness among consumers and sellers in Malaysia as a successful online marketplace,” said Richard Tan, Lelong.my’s Managing Director.

World’s largest cryptocurrency theft worth £380m reported in Japan

Hackers have stolen £380m worth of a lesser-known cryptocurrency from one of Japan’s largest digital exchanges. Coincheck, based in Tokyo, said around 523 million of the exchange’s NEM coins were sent to another account at around 3am local time on Friday morning. The exchange has suspended deposits and withdrawals for all cryptocurrencies except Bitcoin. The stolen assets were reported to have been kept in a “hot wallet”, a digital storage option connected to the internet, as opposed to a “cold wallet”, where assets are kept offline. Coincheck says it has the digital address of where the stolen cryptocurrency was sent and is looking into whether it is possible to recover the assets.

Japan’s financial regulator said on Monday it would inspect all cryptocurrency exchanges and ordered Coincheck to get its act together. The theft highlights the vulnerabilities in trading an asset that global policymakers are struggling to regulate and the broader risks for Japan as it aims to leverage the fintech industry to stimulate economic growth. The Financial Services Agency (FSA) on Monday ordered improvements to operations at Tokyo-based Coincheck. The FSA said it ordered Coincheck to submit an incident report and measures for preventing a recurrence by February 13. If necessary, it will conduct on-site inspections of other exchanges, an official told a briefing. Japan started to require cryptocurrency exchange operators to register with the government only in April 2017, allowing pre-existing operators such as Coincheck to continue offering services ahead of formal registration. The FSA has registered 16 cryptocurrency exchanges so far, and another 16 or so are still awaiting clearance. Coincheck’s application was made in September.

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